Hand luggage bag



Nov. 23, 1943. w. H. BRACKEN HAND LUG GAGE BAG Filed July 2'7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENT OR.

mowlvmem ATTORNEYS Nov. 23, 1943. w. H. BRACKEN HAND LUGGAGE BAG Filed July 27, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AT TORNEY Patented Nov. 23, 1943 r UNITED STATES I M" 1 OFFICE specific requirements; 1

H ND LUGGAGE BAG. Wallace HI Bracken, Rye, N. Y. Application July 27, 1942, Serial No; 452,439 4 Claims. (c1.19o 4s) 4 r r This invention relates'to improvements in'hand luggage bags;

It is a primary object of the ,presentinvention to provide an extremely light and commodious.

vention isparticularly useful for transportation of uniforms and traveling paraphernalia o'f'nav'al officers and aviators. Thesefservice men are;fre-' quently transferred to different stations or ships requiring more orlessgarments as part of their 7 standard equipment. For instance, an .ofiicer aboard an aircraft carrier must transport a large I a hand lugg'age bag which is neatand attractive and uniqu in; appearance, which islight but Inalnu facturefandwhich is Well adapted'iorthe bag, to thus facilitate [complete and compact collapsing of the bag when it is empty. fA furtherobj'ect of the invention is to provide a flexible walled hand luggage bag havinga twohand luggage bag susceptible, when empty,of *5 sectionrigid but foldablebottom, the bag also being collapsed and rolled into a relativelysrnall, havinga 'central, vertical, removable panel to compact bundle, thereby particularly adapting give form and reenforcing to'the upper portion the hand'luggage bag for the use'of, servicemen of the bagwhen it' is in use, said vertical panel, and oificers in the armed forces, 'when in position, cooperating with the sectional though not limited theretdthe'presentin- I0 bottom to maintain the latter in its condition; I v Aiurtherobject'of the invention is to'provide strong and durable, which is inexpensive to purposes described.

humberof garments andu'niforfns'. l'It is highly desirable that a hand luggage :bag"beiprovided for suchgarments and equipment w'hich'will, among other things, house during traveling ate sired number of uniforms on suitable hanger equipped, garment carrying framesj,' -withthe gar--v ment carryingframesbeing rmovabl frromthe luggage bag for hanging the garments thereon'on a closet or locker wall, and with the luggage bag whenemptied f being susceptiblefof' being collapsed and rolled into a compact'bundle of minimum size for storage in anyconvenient I.

limited space. The improved hand luggage bag of the present invention fulfills ,jall' iithe se A further object of'the invention a to" provide a hand luggage-bag of relatively great capacity but in which the weight and .bulkiness has been reduced to a'rniniinurn, the bagalso being adapted to eflfectively concealand confine suits A further object er mementos is p aten a hand luggage bag which, when utilized for the access to and-"removal of aselected 'suit without disturbing the others packedfwithinthe bagi- Another specific object-of the-invention is to provide a hand luggage bag which has flexible external walls and which can, therefore,'be

readily compressed; squeezed;-ordistorted, "in

order tofit thebag into very limited spaces, withbottom formed bya pair of "panels 'foldable upon. themselves along the longitudinal median'of the with the above andother objects in view, the

' invention c'dnsists of-i theimproved hand luggage bag andits parts and combinations, as setforth jin th'e claims, and all equivalents thereof.

lnjthe accompanying drawings inwhichthe same reference characters indicate the same parts injall ofitheviews? 1g; 1 is a perspective view of the improved El-luggage bag in its packed and closed con dition'; j

and taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

in its -unfolded' condition, and with'portions and uniforms, without crushing land wrinkling the same. a e a 4b.

r V jon amenlarged'scale. p neof sults andnniforms. permits-ready brokenaway and in section to showstructural 'details,-'said view being on a smaller scale;

- l Fig. 4 a fragmentary, detail, sectional view of the bottomportion of the bag showing the folding of the sectional'bottommembers after the vertical, rigid: panel of the baghas been removed; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective .view of'the. bag in its collapsedand rolledcondition, said view While the invention has been shown herein as rig specifically applied to a hand luggage 'bag off ce'rtainproportions and of a'certain shape, it

will be apparent that some-of the novel features arecapable of more general application, and that thefspecific disclosure should not therefore'be construed as an intent tolimit: the scope.

Thehand luggage bag illustrated 's' of rec- 'tangular'form. All external wall portions of'the pager-e1 formed of flexible material. For this pui'pojse it maybe practical to useadifierenttypes of tenacious fabrics, canvas, andlight materials.

The bottom of the bag, of rectangular contour,

unfolded enlarged transverse vertical sectionalview through the packed hand-luggage. bag 7 being a Welt 9 on which the complementary boards or panels 8 are foldable relative to each other, as.

will herein-after appear.

The sides of the bag are formed of rectangular sheets of flexible material Hlwhich, in normal packed condition of the bag rise vertically up' wardly from the outer longitudinal side edges of the bottom sections 8. Similarly the ends of the bag are formed by flexible Walls ll rising upw irdly fr m the d e at the b om m m bers 8. Intermed'ate th ir side edges the end wa ls I a e as hee to orm v rt ea e or a k t in whieh the end ed s ei a int c n a n itudina ex b p rtit on x en a a e eu dt will thu be ee vthat t e m ov i has n it e tstreteheii a id e e n i tioniior us p ovides, ta of eeme rim ie er POCketsOi ela v ly lar e si e, ef re tan lar form i ori n al s c i n an even a t -1. .1 per ends.

Th s also s cu ed-With n the b sin Sl ht spaced relati n re at ve to the exibl pa tition 1e .iai soc .fie m e pa tit enf i Who e upp r etci epnrt is o ewhat x ended and is f Ih cen r lon tu na packet-be e n t fl ible partitions l2 and i3 is adapted, under certainxconditions. to e ve a r tenguleL ea e-b ard M Whemt nan lboar sin he Docket, as in Fi the u pe free. and extended e e of the'nartitien ma b i de e th upper'portlon of the panel'board and the upper onenendof the po ket may he lQeed-to' pr e t accidental removal of the rigid panel by means of straps L5 and snap fasteners, H5. 'The bottom edgesi'of thepartitions I2and !3 are secureddi "rectly to the fabric'forming'the bottom of the s bag. adjacent the welt 9. 1

The adjacent inner, longitudinal edge of, a

pair of top closure flaps I! are stitched'or .otherwise isecured to top ed e portions of the central longitudinal'partition 12.- These top closure flaps are'pijioportionedzso asto completelyicover the I open upperends of the compartments .of the bag andfto'drape down the outer side-Walls 110 thereof. To retain the bag inits .closedacondition-when' hacked, and to maintain the'closure flaps, in their proper positions} thelbag is'provided with suitably spaced pairs of encircling straps. Pairs .of buckle-carrying strap sections IB'haVe-their adjacent ends riveted onto the rigid bottom Idem,-

' hereof the bag, as in Fig. 3. -These strap sections 'extend'l'oosely up -opposite/sides l20. of the .ba and areef ree'ly held th'eretoby loans. 19. lhev free ends-of said strap sections J8 .carryxbuckles 213. .Goacting'with .the strap sections {Bare pairs of lcomplementary strap sections 2], The inner ends. 201 the latter strap sections 2.1 are secured j to upper edge portions. of the partition- IZ with the secured inner .edge portions of the closure flaps 11..

:Said snap-sections- 21! extend :freely and adjust a y wr u ht-op Jeans :22 and th .f-re l p tured .ends ofisaid'i strap sections 2.4 hang dovvn'the side walls of the bag seas to a iu t h eng e .with'.-the:hucl;les r I For the convenient carrying of the hand luggage bag a pair of handle members 23 are provided. These handle members are somewhat flexible and swingable and have their ends se- 5 cured directly to the partition l2 within the seam I formed on the top of the bag at the junction of the meeting edge of the top closure flaps l1.

All exposed free and projecting edges of the bag Walls and flaps are provided with suitable edging 1o st i snr we ts- I rrying the packed ba the strain imposed on the carrying handles 23 is taken by the partition I 2 and transmitted to the b bottom; This relieves the sides and top of the bag of weight and strains.

When the improved hand luggage bag is to be used it arranged in its set-up condition with the central, vertical panel 14 within the pocket provided thelieiore to give the bag some rigidity and form and maintaining the bottom' boards 8 inthe'ir unfolded relationship, as in Fig. 2. The encircling straps are released and either or both of the top closure flaps [1 may be folded back to expose the large compartments or pockets .of the bag. Either or both of the, bag compartments 25 mayhave disposed therein special garment carrying frames on which suits, uniforms, and coats are neatly folded and draped. Unfilled portions .of the bag compartments may then be packed so and traveling paraphernalia. The'flexible nature of the walls of th bag permit bulging an .expansion of. the same so that the bag pockets may be packed to their fullest capacities, if needed.

' hen th has s packed t e el f e are secured in closing relationship in the manner previously described, andas shown-in Figs. 1 and --2. The packed bag may then be easily carcarrying strain and stresses;

. S t hi ee e ien wh n my been heard a b. e shi or a r-c ea r t e mat e egf ee pe i ee a d st i the a i -m e 1 s eer ez e an i erm ifla inle. oe t e ekei fer t h n in ans er said garments. The narrow ,centr'alpo'clget closed by the straps i5 is openedand tnelcentralg Yertieal an l) 14 isremoved teary from the t g.

The flexibl was 'i e lea w ll then c l ap e le -b este me re ied n o ever smal and neat bundle: For the latter purpose it has been found convenient to stretch the bag 'out flatly on a side wall with one of the'top flaps outstretched and-with the'bottomiboards g dve'rlying the same; Then, as in Fig. 4, one bottom board may be folded onto the other, whereupon the bag isxrolled into a fiat, compact bundl'of minimum bulk,- as shown in Fig. 5; Storage space on a; vessel is most limited and the compactbundle illustratedgin Fig. 5 maybereadi-ly stored in any convenient crevice or locality; 'If necessary the removable panel ll imay be thrown away as it. can 71) packed.

. t i als os ibl within t e on mpla ion. of

the invention to have the central longitudinal Pane esp-rem a r iii-d s nse with e i id re e nsert in the le te L s a Single ember with 'miscellaneous articles of wearing apparel i e eer g the. pro aed ue e e eh pee ed th h m n egde se 'iteel av l le eae i eiinPl fi e.-. Th g is el .iyhich carry the suits and uniforms may be used a e e as been membe an "there ultimately be replaced when the bag is'to'be re-v the present invention due to the ability to fold and compact the bag into a fraction of its normal bulk when it is empty. The improved hand luggage bag is furthermore of simple and novel construction and is well adapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A luggage bag, comprising a rectangular,

horizontal, rigid bottom, flexible walls surround-- ing said bottom extending upwardly therefrom, said bottom and flexible walls cooperating to form a bag-like enclosure with an open upper end, a vertical, rigid solid partition secured within the bag and dividing it longitudinally into a pair of compartments, the lower edge of said partition being secured to said bottom, a pair of top closure flaps connected at their inner ends to the upper portion of the partition and extending in opposite directions therefrom to close the upper ends of the bag compartments and to drape over opposite under side wall portions of the bag, and a carrying handle secured to an upper portion of the partition whereby the partition transmits carrying strains and stresses imposed on the handle directly to the rigid bottom.

2. A luggage bag, comprising a rectangular, horizontal bottom formed of a pair of foldably connected, rigid sections, the line of foldable connection between said sections being along the longitudinal median of the bottom, flexible walls surrounding said bottom and extending upwardly therefrom, said bottom and flexible walls co operating to form a bag-like enclosure with an open upper end, a pair of adjacent vertical partitions secured within the bag and dividing it longitudinally into a pair of compartments, a narrow pocket being formed between said partitions, a panel removably positioned within said pocket, the lower edges of said partitions being secured to said bottom along the line of fold of said bottom sections, a pair of top closure flaps connected at their inner ends to the upper portion of one of the partitions and extending in opposite directions therefrom to close the upper ends of the bag compartments and to drape over opposite upper side wall portions of the bag, and a carrying handle secured to an upper portion of one of the partitions.

3. A luggage bag, comprising a rectangular, horizontal bottom formed of a pair of foldably connected, rigid sections, the line of foldable connection between said sections being along the longitudinal median of the bottom, flexible walls surrounding said bottom and extending upwardly therefrom, said bottom and flexible walls cooperating to form a bag-like enclosure with an open upper end, a vertical partition secured within the bag and dividing it longitudinally into a pair of compartments, the lower edge of said partition being secured to said bottom along the line of fold of said bottom sections, a pair of top closure flaps connected at their inner ends to the upper portion of the partition and extending in opposite directions therefrom to close the upper ends of the bag compartments and to drape over opposite upper side wall portions of the bag, adjustable cooperating straps releasably encircling the bag and engaging said flaps to hold the same in closing position, some of said straps having their end portions secured to upper portions of the partition, and a carrying handle secured to an upper portion of the partition.

4. A luggage bag, comprising a horizontal bottom formed of a pair of foldably connected rigid sections, the line of foldable connection between said sections being along the longitudinal median of the bottom, flexible walls surrounding said bottom and extending upwardly therefrom, said bottom and flexible walls cooperating to form a bag-like enclosure with an open upper end, a vertical, rigid, solid partition secured within the bag and dividing it longitudinally into a pair of compartments, the lower edge of said partition registering with the line of fold of said bottom sections and secured thereto, a pair of flexible top closure flaps connected at their inner ends to the upper portion of the partition and extending in opposite directions therefrom to close the upper ends of the bag compartments and to freely drape over opposite upper side wall portions of the bag, and a carrying handle secured to an upper portion of the partition whereby the partition transmits carrying strains and stresses imposed on the handle directly to the rigid bottom sections.

WALLACE I-I. BRACKEN. 

